Turkish journalist Mehmet Altan freed after almost 2 years jail: rights group

Istanbul (AFP) – Prominent Turkish journalist Mehmet Altan was on Wednesday released from prison after spending almost two years in jail on charges of links to the group blamed for the 2016 failed coup, a press freedom group said.

Altan, who was first arrested in September 2016, walked free from the Silivri prison outside Istanbul following an earlier court ruling, the P24 rights group said in a statement. His conviction has not been quashed and he remains subject to a travel ban and obligation to report to authorities regularly.